32 things we learned in NFL Week 15: Patrick Mahomes’ injury casts pall
The 32 things we learned from Week 15 of the 2024 NFL season:
0. The number of wins the New York Giants have at home this season after losing 35-14 on Sunday to the Baltimore Ravens. Also, the number of victories the G-Men have since Week 5.
0. Also, the number of touchdowns scored in Thursday night’s game – the first time this season when no one has paid a visit to the end zone in a contest – when the Los Angeles Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers 12-6. Not only that, Rams WR Cooper Kupp took a doughnut in the receptions department in that contest, zero was the number of sacks generated by the 49ers and also the amount of accountability shown by San Francisco LB (for now) De’Vondre Campbell, who refused to go into the game.
0. Number of touchdown catches in 2024 for Arizona Cardinals TE Trey McBride … who now has 89 receptions this season.
0. The number of times Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was sacked in the reigning champs’ 21-7 triumph over the Cleveland Browns – this after being bagged 13 times in the previous three games and 23 over the past six prior to Sunday. And yet …
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1. I.e. the number one story this week will doubtless be Mahomes’ status after he suffered an ankle injury after being enveloped by three Cleveland defenders while trying to get rid of a pass. Per NFL Network, the three-time Super Bowl MVP is already considered week-to-week … which is problematic as the AFC leaders are officially in the midst of a three-games-in-11-days stretch that concludes on Christmas. The Chiefs host the AFC South champion Houston Texans on Saturday afternoon. “It’s not broken, that’s all I can tell you,” HC Andy Reid said after the game. “We’ll have to see how it goes down the road.”
2. The number of teams mathematically eliminated from postseason consideration Sunday: the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears.
3. The Ravens also have a player who apparently doesn’t feel contractually obligated to perform at all times, though WR Diontae Johnson was suspended for Sunday’s game after he refused to enter Week 14’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Baltimore hardly missed him … but more on that in a minute.
4. The number of turnovers (3 INTs, fumble), a career high, by Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa in Sunday’s loss the Texans – one that effectively ended the Fins’ already faint playoff prospects.
4a. The number of turnovers (2 INTs, 2 fumbles), a career high, by Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young in Sunday’s loss the Dallas Cowboys – one that officially ended the Panthers’ extremely remote playoff prospects.
4b. The number of turnovers (3 INTs, fumble), a career high, by Tennessee Titans QB Will Levis in Sunday’s loss the Cincinnati Bengals – one that didn’t affect much aside from the draft position of the long-eliminated Titans.
5. The number of TD passes thrown Sunday by Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, who was apparently quite hamstring by Johnson’s absence.
6. The number of times in Jackson’s career that he’s passed for five TDs in a game, turning the trick twice in 2024 – when he’s still very much a legit MVP candidate.
6(001): Jackson’s number of career rushing yards after eclipsing the 6,000-yard plateau on Sunday. He needs 109 more to overtake Michael Vick’s all-time record for quarterbacks.
7. Speaking of MVP candidates, sure feels like Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen might have locked up the award Sunday after outdueling Jared Goff’s Detroit Lions 48-42 at Ford Field in a game that wasn’t as close as the score suggests. Neither team saw a juicy interconference matchup change its seeding Sunday. But by adding four more TDs (2 passing, 2 rushing) to his season tally while accounting for 430 yards of offense, Allen almost certainly left Goff, one of his apparent pursuers, in the dust.
7a. Allen is the first player in the history of the NFL to have multiple passing and rushing TDs in successive games in a season.
8. Number of times the New Orleans Saints sacked Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels, though some were the result of the rookie running out of bounds. Still, the punishment appeared to take its toll given the Commanders only scored six points in the second half and nearly coughed up a 17-0 lead before surviving on the game’s final play – when the Saints’ two-point attempt came up short in their 20-19 defeat.
8a. And the Saints did get some home cooking from the clock operator Sunday at the Superdome.
9. Sunday, Saints RB Alvin Kamara became the fourth player in league history with 50 career rushing TDs and 25 receiving TDs. Is he a Hall of Famer? The others players on the list are Niners RB Christian McCaffrey, plus HOFers Marshall Faulk and Lenny Moore.
10. The number of turnovers (4 by Levis, 3 by Cincy QB Joe Burrow) in the Cincinnati Bengals’ defeat of the Titans, the most in a game in 17 years.
11. The nuttiest belonged to Bengals SS Jordan Battle, whose premature celebration as he crossed the Tennessee goal line on a 60-yard fumble return … earned him a fumble of his own.
11a. A similar scenario would happen a few hours later – to a much more high-profile player, Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor – with far more ramifications for fantasy (and NFL) playoffs.
12. Some more gems from an unusually entertaining game, which the Bengals won 37-27 … though the game really wasn’t as competitive as the score would indicate. The teams combined for 49 first downs, 129 plays, 744 yards … and 26 penalties (for 223 collective yards).
13. But those numbers were a mere prelude to the Bills-Lions game. Detroit and Buffalo combined for 90 points, 58 first downs, 145 plays and 1,080 yards – both clubs exceeding 500.
14. The Chiefs’ margin of victory Sunday, their largest of the season.
15. The Chiefs’ aggregate margin of victory across their previous five wins.
16. Raise your hand if you had the New York Jets’ 32-25 win at Jacksonville as the most entertaining game of the weekend in a battle of teams that started Sunday 3-10.
17. The jersey number of Jets WR Davante Adams, who scored his 100th and 101st career TDs in the victory. He also had 198 receiving yards, 8 shy of matching his career high.
18. Disappointing as the Jets have been in 2024, Rodgers has been playing well lately … albeit when it matters the least. He has eight TD passes (against 1 INT) over the past four games and has had a passer rating of at least 100.0 in three of them. He even had a team-high 45 rushing yards against the Jags. Still, Sunday’s win was the Jets’ lone victory in that stretch.
19. The Jets’ 32 points were a season high – and Rodgers has been harping on the need to score at least 30 all season. And people say he’s off his rocker …
20. The Rodgers-Adams connection has also evoked their Green Bay heyday of late, the NYJ just peaked … too late for it to make the difference it might have.
21. The Jets did sack Jacksonville QB2 Mac Jones twice – definitely an insufficient total two days after ESPN profiled the team’s famous/infamous “New York Sack Exchange,” which got its own “30 for 30” installment.
22. And yet the play of the day might have been the backflip executed by Jacksonville DT Jeremiah Ledbetter, who’s 6-3 and 299 pounds, after he sacked Rodgers.
23. How good is Denver’s defense? It generated five takeaways and a TD on a day when the Broncos offense didn’t manage even 200 yards against Indianapolis. More than enough to crush the Colts and just about sew up the franchise’s first playoff spot since QB Peyton Manning and Co. won Super Bowl 50 nine years ago.
24. And don’t discount Broncos OLB Nik Bonitto for Defensive Player of the Year. He’s up to 11½ sacks and took a lateral 50 yards to the house for his second TD of the season … though he did get flagged for the latest ‘Marshawn.’
25. Still, Taylor’s gaffe may ultimately be recognized as the moment that sent the Colts to the glue factory in a season full of issues.
26. How good is the Los Angeles Chargers’ defense? Shrug. For those of us who thought this team was overrated – or at least unproven – based on its schedule to date, the equally middling Tampa Bay Buccaneers provided quite the wake-up call to Bolts supporters Sunday. The Chargers began Week 15 as the league’s stingiest scoring D, allowing just 15.9 points per week … before the Bucs hung nearly three times that many on them in a 40-17 walkover. Tampa Bay’s 506 yards of offense were also easily the most allowed by first-year HC Jim Harbaugh’s team in 2024.
27. Things weren’t much better offensively, QB Justin Herbert’s string of interception-less games ending at 11, one shy of a league record, and 357 passes.
28. On the other side, Buccaneers WR Mike Evans had his biggest game of the season with 159 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. He needs to average 84 yards over the next three weeks to extend his string of 1,000-yard campaigns to 11.
29. Houston’s Derek Stingley picked off Tagovailoa twice in the fourth quarter and effectively shut down Miami WR Tyreek Hill, continuing to bolster his case as one of the league’s premier corners in his third NFL season. 30. Number of yards Titans rookie NT T’Vondre Sweat, who’s 6-4 and 366 pounds, returned a fumble Sunday. Per NFL Media, it’s the longest return by a player weighing at least 350 pounds since at least 1991.
31. Cowboys K Brandon Aubrey’s highly disappointing sophomore season continued Sunday after he missed his sixth field-goal try of the year – coming up short on a 70-yarder at the end of the first half. C’mon, dude. We kid, we kid … and the notion Dallas is attempting FGs that long is pretty insane. Maybe he’s not going to go 36-for-38 as he did as a rookie, but we’d find room for Aubrey on our roster – like, if we were starting a team.
32. Congratulations to Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter of the University of Colorado, who might be a top-five pick in next year’s NFL draft as a cornerback or wideout. But to get that kind of multi-position talent in one package? Should be fascinating to see where he lands and how many snaps he gets on either side of the ball.
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.